1. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 1. Golden State Warriors
The Cavs will get another shot at defeating the Warriors. This time they will have both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Last year, Kyrie suffered an injury and missed most of the Finals. Cleveland didn’t have Love for the entire series and most of the playoffs with a shoulder injury. With both of them and LeBron James, the Cavs had no trouble getting through their own conference. The only problem for them is if they become too reliant on their big three and the supporting cast disappears. J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson are the two most important members of that cast. Cleveland will be hard to contain when they’re all clicking.
Aside from the insane shooting prowess of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors probably shouldn’t’ be in the Finals. Yet here they are and they will not be able to overcome another 3-1 deficit against a better team. They are still the defending champs and they will need to protect their home court advantage. Last years Finals MVP Andre Iguodala is starting to heat up and it’s coming at the perfect time. Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes are the two big keys in this rotation. Green has had a few off games, but Barnes needs to get more involved on offense. Playing defense constantly against Oklahoma kind of burned him out, but nows the time to branch out.
Players to Watch: G Kyrie Irving and G Klay Thompson
Who Wins: Warriors in 7 games